We received this question a couple of weeks ago and given the craziness of our times, had neglected to cover it. However, today we needed more of a distraction from the depressing news of Covid19 and have eagerly sought that in the great land down under. In order to make sure we provided a bonza answer, full of well intended true Aussie slang, we first spoke to our token, fair dinkum Australian at RAIA, Dan Bloch. According to Dan, “We [Australians] think we’re more important than we actually are on the global stage. We fail to recognise how insignificant and small we are in other’s minds. It comes with our territory being situated so far away from the action! I mean, how often have you actually spoken about Australian policy in your IR courses? Probably never.” To the American within the Editors team who feels her fellow citizens also think too highly of themselves at times, this feels familiar. That said, most of you know a lot about American foreign policy and very little about Australian foreign policy, so here’s to changing that!
As Dan nicely explained to us, Australian foreign policy is focused on maintaining a balance between its economic and political or strategic partners; China and the United States respectively. To begin with the latter, Australia and the U.S. have held a key strategic relationship since the aftermath of WWII. Their strategic partnership has been mostly military focused in that: Australia purchases nearly all its equipment from American companies; Australia relies on American forces in the South Pacific to help counter Chinese advancements; and, most specifically, Australia has supported the U.S. in the majority of its wars (Vietnam, Korea, Iraq & Afghanistan). In fact, there are still Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting American efforts in the region since 9/11. While Australian strategic support for the U.S. has traditionally been and remains high, bilateral relations with Australia have experienced difficulties under President Trump. With Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and typical diplomatic manners, he has begun pushing much of the Australian public (and private) closer to their main economic partner.
With ⅓ of Australian exports going to China, it is necessary that Australia maintains a healthy relationship with the economic superpower. Such a strong trade relationship with China offers a considerable explanation as to why Australia has not experienced a recession in 27 years (roughly the same amount of time it’s taken China to grow into the powerhouse it is today). China needs natural resources and agriculture as it has moved to an export driven economy and more recently, towards a more consumption and service driven economy. Australia has an abundance of said resources and thus, proceeds to trade extensively with China. While Australia continues to progress this key trade partnership (signing a FTA with China in 2015), the country has witnessed an increase in tensions among its citizens on whether or not to accept closer relations with China. These tensions stem from three things:
- The need to maintain balance and order between their two key partners.
- Chinese ownership of land, energy and transportation infrastructure in Australia; often the result of large political donations by the Chinese
- The continued actions of Chinese forces and companies in the South China Sea
While Australia has managed to mitigate a number of these tensions through heightened legislation and effective flattery ahem we mean diplomacy…the South Pacific nation will need to act more aggressively on these issues if it wishes to maintain public support for it’ main partners. Such tensions in the Australian public beg the question, will Australia need to choose between the U.S. and China in the future? There are obviously supporters to both sides but one we found most compelling was that of former Prime Minister John Howard who believes: “Australia does not need to choose between its history and its geography.” As pleasant as this view appears, it is increasingly challenged by both the Australian public and the Australian partners as all have grown concerned with how close Australia has grown to either side. All things considered though, is this really all Australian foreign policy (present and future) should focus on? We and our Aussie friend don’t think so. Rather, as Dan so expertly pointed out, Australia must focus on defining its most pressing threats. Are the biggest threats to Australia truly physical war as an increase in military expenditure might indicate? Or should the primary focus of Aussie policy be on the environmental war its massive wildfires seem to indicate? For the sake of the beauty of Australia (and the deep desire to have brekky on the barbie), we hope it’s the latter.
